Decree No. 10/2025/ND-CP dated January 11, 2025 on amending some articles of Decrees related to minerals

• Official number: 10/2025/ND-CP
• Legislation Type: Decree of Government
• Organization: The Government
• Signer: Tran Hong Ha
• Issued Date: 11/01/2025

GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM --------	THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence – Freedom – Happiness ---------------
No: 10/2025/ND-CP	Hanoi, January 11, 2025

DECREE

AMENDING SOME ARTICLES OF DECREES RELATED TO MINERALS

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015; the Law on Amendments to the Law on Government Organization and the Law on Local Government Organization dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Minerals dated November 17, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Property Auction dated November 17, 2016; Law amending a number of articles of the Law on Property Auction dated June 27, 2024;

Pursuant to the Law on Planning dated November 24, 2017;

Pursuant to the Law amending a number of articles of 37 laws related to planning dated November 20, 2018;

Pursuant to the Law on Environmental Protection dated November 17, 2020;

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At the request of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;

The Government issues Decree amending some articles of decrees related to minerals.

Article 1. Amendments to some Articles of Decree 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 of the Government elaborating Law on minerals

1. Amendments to some clauses of Article 2:

a) Amendments to clause 2:

“Byproduct minerals is another type of minerals that is located in the mining areas, recoverable from extraction of primary minerals including other minerals in the operating mine's waste dump which at that time is determined to be economically effective, or minerals of the same type as the primary minerals but satisfy standards to be used for good production by original purpose of that mineral as determined in the mining project or have different content, quality from the content, quality determined based on the mineral exploration results approved or recognized by the competent authority."

b) Addition of clause 10 and clause 11 to Article 2:

"10. Information on geological baseline surveys of minerals, mineral exploration means all of the data, information, maps collected and summarized during the assessment of mineral potential, mineral exploration (hereinafter referred to as “mineral information”).

11. Units determining the costs of geological baseline surveys of minerals, the costs of mineral exploration to be reimbursed (hereinafter referred to as the “Units determining the reimbursable costs”) are service-providing units affiliated to the Department of Minerals of Vietnam (for mines under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), service-providing units affiliated to Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of the provinces, centrally affiliated city (for mines under the licensing authority of the People's Committee of the province, centrally affiliated city, hereinafter referred to as the “Provincial People's Committee”) in charge of determining the costs of geological baseline surveys of minerals, the costs of mineral exploration to be reimbursed (hereinafter referred to as the reimbursable costs).".

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“Article 3. Reimbursing the costs of geological baseline survey of minerals, costs of mineral exploration

1. Entities engaged in mineral operation must reimburse the costs of geological baseline survey of minerals, costs of exploration of minerals invested by the State or other entities.

2. Statistics of quantity of items as grounds to determine the reimbursable costs:

a) For the use of geological baseline survey of minerals (including mineral water, natural thermal water, CO₂), the costs shall be determined by work items, geological works, including: Drilling, trenches, furnace, well, karotaz and samples used for determination of mineral quality in the above-mentioned works, and the volume of water pumped in experimental tests for mineral water, natural thermal water, CO2 that have been executed within the permitted mining area. These work items must be determined in the mineral potential assessment report with determination of mineral resources up to level 333 or reserve level C2 approved by competent authorities.

b) For the use of information on mineral exploration, the cost shall be determined by the total volume of work executed within the mineral exploration area as indicated in the mineral exploration reports approved by the competent authority.

3. Reserves and mineral resources quantified as the basis for determining reimbursable costs include reserve levels A, B, C1, C1 or reserve levels 121, 122, and resource levels 221, 222, and 333 in the mineral exploration reports (or reports on the conversion of reserve levels and resource levels).

4. The unit cost for determining reimbursable costs is applied according to the unit cost of natural resources and environment-related work items issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in effect at the time of approval of the reimbursable cost results.

If such work items do not have a unit cost, the unit cost of the specialized state management agency or the People's Committee of the province where the mine is located, in effect at the time of approval, shall apply. Alternatively, the unit determining the reimbursable costs may develop a cost scheme based on current economic and technical standards in the reimbursable cost report.

5. The method for determining reimbursable costs shall comply with Appendix IIA attached hereto

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7. Collection, management, and use of reimbursable costs invested by the state:

a) The unit determining reimbursable costs must open an account for receiving reimbursements at the State Treasury;

b) The unit determining reimbursable costs shall transfer those costs to the state budget no later than 7 working days (from the date of receiving the reimbursable costs), according to the corresponding chapter, category, clause, and section of the current State Budget Table of Contents for the amount collected after deducting the amount retained at the rate prescribed in Point d of this Clause;

c) Reimbursable costs for mineral production licenses issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are transferred to the central government budget; for licenses issued by the Provincial People's Committee, they are transferred to the local budget;

d) The unit determining reimbursable costs shall set aside 5% (for mines under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and 15% (for mines under the licensing authority of the Provincial People's Committees) of the actual reimbursed amount;

dd) The use of retained funds for determining reimbursable costs is carried out in accordance with clause 8 of this Article. In case of unspent funds, they can be transferred to the following year for continued expenditure in accordance with applicable regulations;

e) The unit determining reimbursable costs shall prepare estimates, make advances, and proceed with payments and settlements for the use of funds derived from the reimbursable costs in accordance with the applicable policies and regulations; in cases of incompletion, it is carried over to the following year for continued expenditure in accordance with law.

8. Expenditures for determination of reimbursable costs:

a) Surveying, collecting, and processing data and information to determine reimbursable costs, including salaries, remuneration in accordance with applicable regulations for direct labor (excluding salary costs for officials who are already receiving salaries in accordance with applicable regulations), business trip allowance, accommodation, car rental, overtime allowance;

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c) Reviewing and assessing the determination of reimbursable costs;

d) Purchasing devices, vehicles, stationery supplies;

dd) Inspecting, appraising the results of determining reimbursable costs;

e) Inspecting, urging compliance with the obligation to pay fees at organizations, individuals, work of determination of reimbursable costs at local levels;

g) Using documents on geology and minerals at the archiving authorities, costs of data synthesis and building an information database to serve state management in determining reimbursable costs;

h) Hiring consulting units to prepare reports on determining reimbursable costs.

9. Reimbursement of costs of geological baseline survey of minerals, costs of mineral exploration between organizations and individuals

a) Reimbursement of costs of geological baseline survey of minerals, costs of mineral exploration between organizations and individuals shall be carried out based on mutual agreement in writing;

b) If organizations, individuals cannot reach mutual agreement as mentioned in point a of this clause, the state regulatory authority with competence to issue the mineral production license shall make decisions on the reimbursable costs based on the proposal of the investing organization, individual, or the organization, individual using mineral information. The determination of reimbursable costs shall be carried out in accordance with clauses 5, 10, and 11 of this Article.

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c) Organizations, individuals using mineral information must reimburse the costs of geological baseline surveys of minerals, costs of mineral exploration in a one-time payment before submitting the application for a mineral production license;

d) The deadline for reimbursing costs of geological baseline surveys of minerals, costs of mineral exploration in accordance with point b of this clause shall comply with point c of this clause and must complete payment within 60 working days from the effective date of the decision approving the results of determining the reimbursable costs.

10. Council for verification of results of reimbursable cost determination:

a) The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall make a decision on establishment of the Verification Council for applications for mineral production licenses under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The Verification Council consists of no more than 11 members, including: The Chairman is the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment; 01 Vice Chairman is the leader of the Department of Minerals of Vietnam; the members include 01 representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (or the Ministry of Construction in case the mineral is a construction material); 01 representative of the Office of the National Mineral Reserves Assessment Council; 01 representative of the Departments: Science and Technology, Legal Affairs, Planning - Finance affiliated to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; 01 representative of the Department of Geology of Vietnam; 01 representative of Department of Minerals as Secretary; 01 representative of the People's Committee of the province where the mineral is extracted;

b) The Provincial People's Committees shall make decisions on establishing the Verification Council for applications for issuance of mineral production licenses or mineral production licenses that have been granted under the licensing authority of the provincial People's Committees. The Verification Council shall consist of no more than 09 members, including: Chairman who is a leader of the provincial People's Committee; Vice Chairman who is a leader of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment; members, including 01 representative from the Departments: Finance, Industry and Trade (or the Department of Construction for cases where minerals are construction materials); 01 representative from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment as the Secretary of the Council; 01 representative from the provincial tax authority; 01 representative from the People's Committee of district, town, city of the province where the extracted minerals are located, and some geological and mineral experts.

c) The standing agency of the Verification Council is the Department of Minerals of Vietnam for applications for issuance of mineral production licenses under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for applications for issuance of mineral production licenses under the licensing authority of the provincial People's Committee.

d) The Chairman of the Council for verification of results of determining reimbursable costs shall issue the Regulations on operation of the Council.

11. Procedures for determining, verifying, and approving reimbursable costs:

a) The unit determining reimbursable costs shall prepare the report on determining reimbursable costs;

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c) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the provincial People's Committee shall review, approve the verified results of determining reimbursable costs from the standing agency in accordance with applicable regulations;

d) The determination, verification, approval of reimbursable costs invested by the state shall be carried out simultaneously with the process of receiving and verifying applications for issuance of mineral production licenses. The determination, verification, and approval of reimbursable costs in cases specified in point b of clause 9 of this Article shall be carried out before receiving the mineral production license issuance applications; the deadline for completion shall not exceed 80 days from the date of receiving the proposal from the investing organization, individual, or organization, individual using mineral information.

dd) Forms: Verification form for the results of determining reimbursable costs; Minutes of the Verification Council meeting on determining reimbursable costs; Decision to approve the results of determining reimbursable costs as specified in Appendix IIb.

12. Determination of deductible cost when determining corporate income taxable income for reimbursable costs of organizations and individuals using mineral information shall be carried out in accordance with laws on corporate income tax and relevant documents.”.

3. Amendment to Article 4:

“Article 4. Use of information on geological baseline survey of mineral, mineral exploration, extraction

1. Any entity is entitled to use the mineral information invested by itself or use the mineral information belonging to the State or entities that have been reimbursed the costs as prescribed in the Article 3 of this Decree and entitled to transfer and inherit in accordance with law.

2. Organizations and individuals conducting mineral exploration using state budget funds are not allowed to provide or transfer information on mineral exploration results to other organizations and individuals, except for providing information to competent authorities as prescribed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

3. After 06 months from the day on which the mineral reserves are approved by a competent authority and upon expiry of the mineral exploration license, if an entity entitled to mineral exploration fails to apply for issuance of a mineral production license, the competent authority is entitled to provide the information on the mineral in that area for other entities for their use, except for force majeure events. The entity that uses the mineral exploration information must reimburse the exploration costs to any entity that has carried out any previous investment in exploration in accordance with law.”.

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“4. Responsibility for submitting reports:

a) Before every February 1, each entity permitted to engage in mineral operation must submit the report of the previous year as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the province where the mineral operation are conducted. With regard to an entity that conduct the mineral operation under the License which is granted under the competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, that report is also submitted to the Department of Minerals of Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction for minerals under planning managed hereby;

b) Before every February 15, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will send a report of the previous year as prescribed at Point a of clause 2 of this Article to the People’s Committee of the province to forward such report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and also the Department of Industry and Trade and the Department of Construction for cooperation;

c) Before every March 15, the Department of Minerals of Vietnam shall send a report of the previous year as prescribed at Point b of Clause 1 of this Article to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to forward such report to the Prime Minister and send copies of the report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (for projects with foreign investment) for cooperation.”.

5. Addition of Article 20a after Article 20:

“Article 20a.  Exploration, extraction and use of byproduct minerals in the process of mineral exploration and extraction

1. In cases where byproduct minerals (including waste soil and rocks from mines with unexpired mineral production licenses) have not been specified in the mineral production license, organizations and individuals are required to recover at most, report to the state regulatory authority with competence to issue the mineral production license to amend the content of such license, or issue a new license in accordance with this Decree.

2. For mineral exploration licenses and mineral production licenses issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, when exploring and extracting primary minerals, if the byproduct minerals are general constructional materials, peat coals, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall issue a new mineral exploitation license or amend the issued one (including both primary minerals and byproduct minerals) in accordance with this Decree.

3. For mineral exploration licenses issued by the provincial People's Committee, if byproduct minerals produced in the process falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, organizations and individuals shall prepare and submit an assessment report on the scale of resources, reserves of byproduct mineral using the Form specified in Appendix IIc attached hereto to the provincial People's Committee for settlement as follows:

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b) If the byproduct mineral has the scale and reserve that is greater than those specified in Appendix I attached hereto and is fragmented and scattered, the provincial People's Committee shall submit a document attached with a report on the assessment of the scale of resource and reserve of byproduct minerals using the Form specified in Appendix IIc attached hereto to the Ministry of Mineral Planning Management for submission to the Prime Minister for review and supplementation of the mineral planning as a basis for licensing as prescribed.

4. For mineral production licenses issued by the provincial People's Committee, if byproduct minerals produced in the process falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, organizations and individuals shall prepare and submit an assessment report on the scale of resources, reserves of byproduct minerals using the Form specified in Appendix IIc attached hereto to the provincial People's Committee for settlement as follows:

a) In cases where byproduct minerals have the scale and reserves that conform to the regulations in Appendix I attached hereto, the provincial People's Committee shall review and amend the mineral production license as prescribed at the request of the organizations, individuals.

b) If the byproduct mineral has the scale and reserve that is greater than those specified in Appendix I attached hereto and is fragmented and scattered, the provincial People's Committee shall submit a document attached with a report on the assessment of the scale of resource and reserve of byproduct minerals using the Form specified in Appendix IIc attached hereto to the Ministry of Mineral Planning Management for submission to the Prime Minister for review and supplementation of the mineral planning as a basis for licensing as prescribed.

5. Procedures, deadline for processing applications:

a) For byproduct minerals specified in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the deadline for processing applications shall comply with regulations on issuance and amendment to mineral production licenses.

b) If the byproduct minerals have the scale and reserves as specified in point a of clause 3 and point a of clause 4 of this Article, within 15 days from the date receiving the report from the organization or individual using the Form specified in Appendix IIc attached hereto, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall review and issue an approval document for the provincial People's Committee to issue the mineral production license. If opinions from relevant agencies or organizations are required, the time taken for these opinions will not be included in the time limit for processing the applications.

c) If the byproduct minerals have the scale and reserves as specified in point b of clause 3 and point b of clause 4 of this Article, within 30 days from the date receiving the report from the organization or individual using the Form specified in Appendix IIc attached hereto, the provincial People's Committee shall review, issue and send a document on mineral planning to the Ministry of Mineral Planning Management for submission to Prime Minister for review and supplementation of the mineral planning as a basis for licensing as prescribed. If it is included in the planning, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall issue a license accordingly.”.

6. Amendment to clause 1 of Article 28:

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7. Addition of Article 37a after Article 37:

“Article 37a.  Amendment to Mineral production licenses

1. Cases of amending Mineral production licenses:

a) The reserve of minerals after further exploration for upgrading from resource within the scope of the production licenses approved by competent state regulatory authority;

b) Organizations and individuals applying for extraction and recovery of byproduct minerals;

c) Upon changes in name of organizations and individuals conducting mineral production;

d) When an organization or individual apply for changing the mining method or mining capacity specified in the mining investment projects.

2. State regulatory authorities that have the power to issue mineral production licenses also have the power to amend such mineral exploitation licenses.

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4. Organizations and individuals applying for amendment to mineral production license are obliged to carry out procedures for amending investment guidelines in accordance with the law on investment and public investment; procedures for environmental impact assessment and granting of environmental licenses in accordance with laws on environmental protection (if any) applying for amendment.”.

8. Amendment to point b clause 1 of Article 39:

“b) Having a report on mining performance from the issuance date of license up to the time of renewal application, specifying that the mineral reserves in the mining area have not been completely extracted under the mining license. In case the total extracted mineral reserves and the mineral reserves proposed for extension of extraction are greater than the mineral reserves approved by the competent state regulatory authority, the organizations and individuals conducting mineral production shall report and provide complete records and documents on the results of statistics and inventory of mineral reserves in the permitted mining area, the extracted minerals, and take responsibility for the statistics and inventory data as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 63 of the Law on Minerals and shall pay the charge for the right to extract the increased amount of minerals.”.

9. Amendment to Article 40:

“Article 40. Mineral reserves permitted for mining design

1. Mineral reserves permitted for mining design prescribed in Article 52 of the Law on Mineral include the whole or a part of mineral reserves approved by competent state regulatory authority, except for cases of salvage mining or cases specified in Article 53, 53a hereof.

2. Mineral reserves permitted for mining design specified in clause 1  of this Article must:

a) not be located in the areas banned or temporarily banned from mineral operation approved by competent authority, except for cases of underground mining operation in the banned or temporarily banned from mineral operation to ensure that they do not cause adverse impacts on objects that need to be protected and must be approved by the state management agency assigned with management of that object in accordance with law;

b) Not be located in a national mineral reserve area, except in cases permitted by a competent state regulatory authority in accordance with law;

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10. Amendment to point c clause 2 of Article 41:

c) Status maps, status drawings of cross-sections of area permitted for extraction of solid minerals;”..

11. Amendment to clause 2 of Article 42:

The mining organizations, individuals, other than household businesses must install a weighting terminal or measuring devices or use other methods to determine and control the actual extracted mineral before being transported out of the mining areas; install surveillance cameras at warehouses to store relevant information and data.

12. Addition of Article 42a after Article 42:

“Article 42a.  Use of waste soil and rocks produced in the mining process

1. Mining organizations, individuals must use waste soil and rocks for the purpose of environmental improvement and restoration in accordance with the approved plan in accordance with laws on environmental protection; directly serving the works within the area of ​​the mining project.

2. In addition to the waste soil and rocks used for the purposes specified in Clause 1 of this Article, mining organizations, individuals are encouraged to use them for traffic and construction works or other economic and social development purposes on the principle of maximizing the recovery of the values ​​of waste soil and rocks according to circular economic criteria as prescribed by the law on environmental protection and approved or accepted by competent state agencies.”.

13. Addition of clause 5 to Article 46:

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14. Amendments to some clauses of Article 51:

a) Amendment to point a of clause 2:

“a) Original copy: Application form for granting the mineral production license; Status maps of area for extraction of solid minerals at the time of renewal application; Report on the mining performance from the time of license issuance to the time of renewal application;".

b) Amendment to point a of clause 3:

“a) Original copy:

Application form for returning the mineral production license or part of surface of the mining area; Status maps of area for extraction of solid minerals at the time of application for return thereof; mineral production license; Report on the mining performance from the time of license issuance to the time of return thereof; Scheme for closing the mine or Scheme for closing part of the mining area, in case of returning part of the permitted mining area;”.

c) Amendment to point a of clause 4:

“a) Original copy: Application form for transfer of mining right; contract for transfer of mining right attached to the list of value of the transferred property; the map of the mining status at the point of time of transfer proposal for solid minerals; report of mining result from the issuance date of the license to the time of the transfer proposal of the mining right;

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“Article 53. Application for registration of mining areas, capacity, quantity, methods, equipment and plan related to minerals as building materials in the project construction’s area

The application includes:

1. Original copy: Application form for registration of mining areas, capacity, quantity, methods, equipment and plan related to minerals using Form 01 specified in Appendix IId attached hereto.

2. The original copy, certified true copy or the copy enclosed with original for collation, certified electronic copy of the original of: Report on environmental impact assessment attached to the decision on approval of competent state regulatory authority; proposal report attached to the environmental license of the competent state regulatory authority (if any), environmental registration (except for cases of exemption in accordance with law on environmental protection); feasibility study or equivalent documents of mineral production investment projects attached to decision on approval; Master plan drawings of the project construction’s area or component drawings of the project related to the mining area for general constructional materials

16. Addition of Article 53a after Article 53:

“Article 53a.  Application for registration of material volume recovered from the project of dredging

The application includes:

1. The original copy: Application for recovery of mineral attached to A location map, scope of area for dredging and widening of canals; a registration of quantity, plan, methods, and equipment used for recovering minerals in accordance with Form 02 of Appendix IId attached hereto.

2. The original copy, the certified true copy or the copy enclosed with original for collation, certified electronic copy of the original of:

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b) A report on environmental impact assessment of the project attached to decision on approval of verification results of the competent state regulatory authority, person or proposed report attached to environmental license from competent state regulatory authority (if any), environmental protection registration (except for cases of exemption in accordance with laws on environmental protection);

c) Licenses to operate within the protection range of dams, hydroelectric and irrigation reservoirs of competent authorities (if any);

d) Mineral storage lease contract (if any).”.

17. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 56:

a) Amendments to point c and d of clause 1:

“c) The status map of the mineral mine closing area for solid mineral;

d) The documents proving the complete performance of obligations relating to the mining from the time of licensing to the time of submitting application for approval of Scheme for closing the mineral mine.”.

b) Amendment to point a of clause 2 of Article 56:

a) The original copy: Application form for approval of Scheme for closing the mineral mine; Scheme for closing the mineral mine; status map of the mine-closing area by the time of applying for mine closure for solid minerals; report on implementation of plan for renovation and restoration of the environment at the time of mine closure;”.

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“3. The application for amending the Scheme for closing the mineral mine includes:

a) Application form for amending the Scheme for closing the mineral mine attached to status map of the mine-closing area by the time of applying for mine closure (for solid minerals) at the time of submitting the application;

b) Report on implementation of Scheme for closing mineral mines from the time of approval to the time of proposed amendments, and the proposed amendments.”.

18. Amendments to clauses 3 and 4 of Article 62:

“3. Submission of application for registration for mineral extraction/recovery:

1. Within 05 days, from the date on which the tasks prescribed in Clause 2 hereof are completed, the receiving authority shall complete and submit the registration application to People's Committee of province where the construction project or project of dredging and widening of canals is located;

2. b) Within 07 days, from the date on which the application is received, the People’s Committee of province shall complete the registration of mining areas, capacity, quantity, methods, equipment and plan related to mineral extraction/recovery using Form No 03 of Appendix IId attached hereto.. In case of refusal, a written response must be provided clearly stating the reason.3. Notifying and giving processing results of the application for the mineral extraction/recovery

Within 05 days from the day of receiving the application from the competent authority, the receiving authority will notify the applicant for registration of  quantity of mineral extracted/recovered of receiving processing results and fulfill the relevant obligations as prescribed, and notify local government of district or commune for cooperation and supervision.  The above-mentioned time limit shall exclude the period of time in which the mining organizations, individuals has paid the charge for mineral production right.

19. Amendments to some clauses of Article 72:

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1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall:

a) Determine, verify, approve, and inform of the results of determining the reimbursable costs for mineral production licenses under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

b) Monitor and urge organizations and individuals conducting mineral production to fulfill their obligations to reimburse the costs of geological baseline surveys of mineral and mineral exploration costs invested by the State for mineral production licenses under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in accordance with laws on minerals;

c) Inspect, monitor and review the work of determining the reimbursable costs in local areas;

d) Before every March 15, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in reviewing and reporting to the Prime Minister on the results of determining the reimbursable costs nationwide in the previous year;

dd) Taking charge and cooperating with relevant ministries and central authorities in providing guidance on the implementation of this Decree.”;

b) Addition of clauses 1a after clause 1:

“1a. Provincial People's Committees shall:

a) Determine, verify, approve, and inform of the results of determining the reimbursable costs for mineral production licenses under the licensing authority of Provincial People's Committees;

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c) Before every February 15, the Provincial People's Committees shall complete and send the report on the results of determining the reimbursable costs nationwide in the previous year report to The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for review and submission to the Prime Minister.”;

c) Addition of clauses 1b after clause 1a:

“1b. The Ministry of Finance shall inspect the settlement of the use of retained reserves in accordance with regulations.".

20. The phrase “Environmental impact assessment report or environmental protection plan, plan for renovation and restoration of the environment as prescribed” is replaced with the phrase “report on environmental impact assessment of the project attached to decision on approval of verification results of the competent state regulatory authority, person or proposed report attached to environmental license from competent state regulatory authority (if any), environmental protection registration (except for cases of exemption in accordance with laws on environmental protection)” in Clause 2 of Article 39.

21. The phrase "General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam" is replaced with the phrase "Department of Minerals of Vietnam" in Clause 4 of Article 8; Clause 3 of Article 20; Clause 1, Clause 3 of Article 24; Clause 1, Clause 2 of Article 31; Clause 1 of Article 47.

22. Articles 10, 11, 12; Clause 6 of Article 20; Clause 1, Clause 3 of Article 55; Article 68; Clause 2 of Article 70 are annulled.

Article 2. Amendments to a number of articles of Decree No. 20/2021/ND-CP dated March 15, 2021 of Government on auctions of mineral production rights

1. Amendment to Article 2:

“Article 2. Term interpretation

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1. mineral production right means right to explore, extract minerals of auction winner.

2. Auctions of mineral production rights (hereinafter referred to as “auctions”) means determination of organizations, individuals having the right to explore, extract minerals through auctions complying with principles, requirements, procedures specified herein, Law on Minerals and Law on Property auction

3. Eligibility requirements for auctions of mineral production rights means a set of requirements and conditions applied to each auction and are specifically stipulated in the Auction Regulations of that auction.

4. The persons with power to put property up for auction are the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Provincial People's Committees within the licensing authority of mineral operation.

5. Auction application means documents prepared by organizations and individuals participating in the auction and submitted to the receiving agencies or units in accordance with the requirements specified in the Auction Regulations.

6. Winning bid means mineral production licensing fees in sites of awarded mineral production right.

7. Auction organizers include:

a) Department of Minerals of Vietnam (for minerals under the licensing authority of mineral operation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment);

b) Department of Natural Resources and Environment (for minerals under the licensing authority of mineral operation of the provincial People's Committees).”.

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“Article 4. Starting price

1. Starting price shall be determined by the rate of mineral production licensing fee (R) specified in Decree on methods for calculation, rate of mineral production licensing fee.

2. Auction organizers shall determine and submit the starting price of each auction to The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Provincial People's Committees for approval by their licensing authority of mineral operation.

3. The starting price is decided before the announcement of the selection of the property auction organization.”.

3. Amendment to Article 5:

“Article 5. Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and handling of EMD

1. Bidders must pay an EMD in VND or in form of bank guarantee. The EMD must be 5%-20% of the mineral production licensing fee estimated based on the starting price and shall be calculated as follows:

T_đt = Q x G x K₁ x K₂ x R_đt (dong)

T_đt – EMD;

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G - Price for calculating mineral production licensing fee specified in Decree 67/2019/ND-CP;

K₁ - Mineral recovery coefficient related to mining method: K= 0,9 for open-pit mining (including river bed, lake bed, sea waters sand and gravel); K= 0,6 for underground mining; K= 1,0 for mining for mineral water or natural thermal water and other cases;

K₂ – Coefficient related to disadvantaged and extremely disadvantaged areas in accordance with point a of clause 2 of Article 16 of Law on Investment: K₂= 0,9 for extremely disadvantaged area; K₂= 0,95 for disadvantaged area; K₂= 1,0 for other mining areas;

R_đt – Rate of deposits of 5%-20% of the starting price.

2. Payment of EMDs:

In case the auction is conducted by a property auction organization, the payment of EMDs shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Property Auction; in case the auction is conducted by a Property Auction Council, the bidder shall transfer the EMD into the account of the auction organizer.”.

4. Amendment to Article 6:

“Article 6. Deposits and handling of deposits

1. The EMD amount paid by the successful bidder and interest thereon (if any) shall be treated as deposit Successful bidders may change the form of deposit from in cash to bank guarantee or vice versa.

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a) They have been granted mineral exploration licenses by state regulatory authority in accordance with laws on minerals for auctions at sites where minerals have not been explored;

b) They have been granted mineral production licenses by state regulatory authority in accordance with laws on minerals for auctions at sites where mineral exploration results are available;

3. The auction organizer shall refund the deposit within 10 working days from the date the organization or individual is granted a License as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

4. Successful bidders shall not receive their deposit in the following cases:

a) They fail to submit application for issuance of mineral exploration license or mineral production license to the competent state regulatory authority for licensing as prescribed by the law on minerals within the time limit specified in Point c and Point d, Clause 2, Article 11 hereof;

b) Other cases as prescribed by relevant laws.

5. Deposits that are not refundable in the cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article shall be transferred to the state budget.”.

5. Amendment to Article 8:

 “Eligibility to participate in the auction

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1. a) They have adequate documents on auction of mineral production right that are selected as per Article 19 hereof.

2. The EMD has been paid as prescribed.”.

6. Amendment to Article 10:

“Article 10. Rights and obligations of bidders

1. Bidders have the following rights:

a) Have access to geological and mineral documents related to sites where mineral production right is auctioned in accordance with laws on mineral and other relevant laws;

b) Carry out field surveys at sites;

c) Other rights specified in relevant laws.

2. Bidders have the following obligations:

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c) Other obligations specified in relevant laws.

7. Amendment to Article 11:

“Article 11. Rights and obligations of auction winners

1. Auction winners have the following rights:

a) Be issued with the document approving auction winner;

b) Use information on minerals related to sites where mineral production right is auctioned in accordance with laws on minerals.

c) Be issued with the mineral exploration license, mineral production license after completing procedures for licensing mineral exploration, production as prescribed by laws on minerals;

d) Other rights in accordance with law.

2. Auction winners have the following obligations:

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b) Pay the winning bid and fulfill other financial obligations as prescribed by law;

c) Submit the application for issuance of the mineral exploration license to a competent licensing state regulatory authority within 12 months after the end of the auction at sites where no mineral exploration has been carried out;

d) Submit the adequate application for issuance of the mineral production license to a competent licensing state regulatory authority within 24 months after the end of the auction at sites where results of mineral exploration are available;

dd) The acquired mineral extraction right must not be transferred to another organization or individual for making an application for licensing mineral operation;

e) Other obligations in accordance with law.”.

8. Amendment to point a clause 1 of Article 12:

a) The Council President being the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.".

9. Amendment to Article 14:

“Article 14. Preparation and announcement of auction plan

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a) Mineral exploration, production, processing, and use planning; Planning for exploration, production, processing, and use of minerals for construction materials; Mineral exploration, production, processing, and use plan integrated into provincial planning in accordance with laws on planning;

b) The sites not put up for mineral production right auction approved by state regulatory authorities specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 78 of the Law on Mineral;

c) Results of survey, assessment, exploration of minerals and the actual situation of mineral production; mineral demands for local, regional and national socio - economic development in the succeeding year.

2. Responsibility for preparing, approving auction plan:

The auction organizer shall prepare and submit to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial People's Committees for approval of the auction plan within the licensing authority of mineral operation as grounds for implementation.

3. Announcement of auction plan:

a) For minerals under the mineral operation licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, after approval, the auction plan shall be publicly posted on the websites of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of the provinces where the minerals are located;

b) For minerals under the mineral operation licensing authority of the provincial People's Committees, after approval, the auction plan shall be publicly posted on the websites of the People's Committees of the provinces where the minerals are located.”.

10. Amendment to Article 15:

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1. The auction invitations are prepared by the auction organizer to organize the property auction or by the Auction Council.

2. Auction invitation includes:

a) Names of the minerals, location of the mineral site put up for auction;

b) The scheduled place and time of the auction;

c) Information on mineral reserves and resources; mineral planning; mineral production conditions of the site put up for auction; methods of information reference, the current infrastructural conditions and the land use in the mineral site put up for auction;

d) Starting price, increment, EMD;

dd) The standards of bidder dossier assessment;

e) The forms required in a bidder dossier;

g) Regulations on equity of bidder.”

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“Article 16. Bidder dossiers

A bidder dossier includes:

1. Original copy: Application form for participation in the auction using Form 03 of Appendix attached hereto.

2. The original copy, certified true copy or the copy enclosed with original for collation, certified electronic copy of the original of: written introduction of capability and experience in mineral exploration, production and processing using Form 04 of Appendix attached hereto.

3. For sites where results of mineral exploration are available: Bidder must have the original copy, or certified electronic copy of a preliminary investment program for mineral production, intensive processing, product sale and make a written commitment to implementing such program if they win the auction.

4. For sites where no mineral exploration has been carried out: Bidder must have the original copy, or certified electronic copy of a preliminary investment plan for mineral exploration, production, intensive processing, product sale and make a written commitment to implementing such plan if they win the auction. “.

12. Amendment to Article 17:

“Article 17. Receiving authorities

1. In case the auction is conducted by an Property auction organization, the receipt of application for participation in the auction of mineral production rights shall be carried out in accordance with the Law on Property Auction.

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a) The Department of Minerals of Vietnam shall receive applications for participation in the auction of mineral exploitation rights for minerals under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

a) The Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall receive applications for participation in the auction of mineral exploitation rights for minerals under the licensing authority of the provincial People's Committee;

13. Amendment to Article 22:

Article 22. Approval of auction winning results

1. Within 01 working day after the auction closes, the property auction organization must transfer all auction documents to the auction organizer to report the auction results to the persons with power to put property up for auction.

2. Within 05 working days after the auction closes, the auction organizer must submit the application for approval of auction results to the state regulatory authority with licensing authority of mineral operation. The application includes:

a) The auction record using Form No. 05 of Appendix attached hereto;

b) The auction winner’s bidder dossier;

c) A draft written approval of the auction winning result.

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14. Addition of Article 22a after Article 22:

“Article 22a.  Cancellation of auction results and Decision on approval of auction results

1. The cancellation of auction results shall comply with  Article 72 of the Law on Property Auction. Document on cancellation of the Decision on approval of auction results using Form No. 08 and Form No. 09 of the Appendix attached hereto.

2. In case the auction winner fails to submit adequate application for issuance of mineral exploration license/mineral production license as prescribed to the competent licensing state regulatory authority as prescribed by the law on minerals within the time limit specified in Point c and Point d of Clause 2 of Article 11 hereof, the competent state management agency shall cancel the Decision on approval of the auction results.”.

15. Amendment to Article 23:

Article 23. Notification of auction winning results

1. The auction results must be publicly announced at the offices of the receiving agencies, units, and on the official website of the competent licensing authority within 03 working days from the approval of the auction results by the competent authority.

2. The notification of auction winning results includes:

a) The name of the auction winner;

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c) Auction winning value.

3. Auction winning results of minerals under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment must also be publicly posted on the websites of the People's Committees of the provinces where the minerals are located;

16. Amendment to Article 24:

"Article 24. Methods for determining, collecting, paying the winning bid

1. Depending on the winning bid of mineral production right with auction results approved by the state regulatory authority with licensing authority of mineral operation, the methods for determining, collecting, paying the winning bid shall be the same as the methods at sites permitted for mineral production without auctioning mineral production rights and as stipulated in clauses 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. The Department of Minerals of Vietnam, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, shall submit to the winning bid at sites of awarded mineral production right within the mineral operation licensing authority to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial People's Committees for approval.

3. Within the auctioned site, the winning bid for the mineral production rights for the type of minerals of which production right is awarded shall be stable throughout the licensed production period, even in cases where exploration and upgrading of mineral reserves are conducted by organizations or individuals as regulated in point c of clause 1 of Article 55 of the Mineral Law and approved by the state regulatory authority with the competence to approve mineral reserves.

4. If mineral exploration results reveal a different type of mineral other than the minerals of which production right is awarded and are approved by the state regulatory authority with the competence to approve mineral reserves, the mineral production licensing fee for such mineral shall equal the mineral production licensing fee at sites where mineral production rights are not auctioned.”.

17. Amendment to Article 27:

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1. Take charge in organizing auctions for minerals under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. Take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in providing the implementation of this Decree.

3. Direct the Department of Minerals of Vietnam to determine the amount of the second payment before March 1st every year and send it to the local Department of Taxation where the mineral site is located to issue a Notice to organizations and individuals granted a mineral operation license to make payment as prescribed.

4. Review and report on the auction of mineral exploitation rights nationwide.".

18. Addition of Article 27a after Article 27:

“Article 27a.  “Article 27. Responsibilities the Ministry of Finance

Direct local Department of Taxation where there are sites at which they are awarded mineral production right:

1. Inform auction winner about making payment; manage, urge collection, transfer, and handle late payments, as well as enforce administrative penalties related to the collection of winning bid for the mineral production rights in accordance with laws on tax administration.

2. Collect applications, review, and process application for deferral of winning bid for mineral production rights for organizations and individuals granted mineral production licenses in the province, or submit to the competent authority for decision as per laws on tax administration.

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4. Review, account for, and report on the mineral production licensing fee according to the applicable regulations.

19. Addition of Article 27b after Article 27a:

“Article 27a.  Responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Construction

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, People's Committees of provinces, and centrally affiliated cities in reviewing the approved mineral planning within its jurisdiction and submit it to the Prime Minister for amendment as prescribed as grounds for organizing auctions.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, People's Committees of provinces, and centrally affiliated cities in reviewing the approved mineral planning within its jurisdiction and submit it to the Prime Minister for amendment as prescribed as grounds for organizing auctions.”.

20. Addition of Article 27c after Article 27b:

“Article 27a.  Responsibilities of the Provincial People's Committees

1. Take charge in organizing auctions for minerals under the licensing authority of the Provincial People's Committees.

2. Direct the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to determine the amount of the second payment before March 1st every year and send it to the local Department of Taxation to issue a Notice to organizations and individuals granted a mineral operation license to make payment as prescribed.

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21. Article 3, Article 7, Article 9, Clause 3, Article 12, Article 13, Article 20, Article 21 and Article 25 are annulled.

22. The phrase "General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam" is replaced with the phrase "Department of Minerals of Vietnam" at Point b of Clause 1 of Article 12; Point a of Clause 1 of Article 17.

Article 3. Amendments to some Articles of Decree 67/2019/ND-CP dated July 31, 2019 of the Government providing for charges for granting mining right and calculation methods thereof

1. Amendment to Article 5:

Article 5. Grounds for calculating mineral production licensing fees

Mineral production licensing fees shall be calculated by adopting the following formula

T = Q x G x K1 x K2 x R

Where:

T - Mineral production licensing fees; unit: VND;

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G - Price for calculating mineral production licensing fee, which is the unit price of raw mineral after mining, calculated according to the price for calculating resource royalty as regulated in the law on resource royalties applicable at the time of approval of mineral production licensing fee and provided for in Article 7 hereof; unit: VND/mineral reserve unit;

K₁ - Mineral recovery coefficient related to mining method: K₁= 0,9 for open-pit mining (including river bed, lake bed, sea waters sand and gravel); K₁= 0,6 for underground mining; K₁= 1,0 for mining for mineral water or natural thermal water and other cases;

K₂ – Coefficient related to disadvantaged and extremely disadvantaged areas in accordance with point a of clause 2 of Article 16 of Law on Investment:  K₂= 0,9 for extremely disadvantaged area; K₂= 0,95 for disadvantaged area; K₂= 1,0 for other mining areas

R – Rate of mineral production licensing fees; unit: %;

2. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 6:

a) Amendment to point e of clause 1:

“e) The extracted mineral reserves specified in Points a, b of this Clause shall be determined according to annual resource royalty declaration; In case the annual resource royalty declaration does not contain sufficient information, other relevant lawful documents and certificates are referred”.

b) Amendment to clause 3:

-With regard to mineral production licenses issued after the effective date of Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 of the Government, mineral reserves for calculating mineral production licensing fees (Q) shall be mineral reserves permitted for mining design specified in the mineral production licenses.

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c) Amendments to clause 4:

“4. Mineral reserves for calculating licensing fees shall be determined by the actual volume of minerals recovered during the year according to the annual resource royalty declaration in the following cases:

a) Licenses granted by competent state regulatory authority for mineral production without having to perform exploration, as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 65 of the Law on Minerals;

b) Cases not required applying for issuance of a mineral production license as prescribed in Point a, Clause 2 of Article 64 of the Law on Minerals;

c) Mineral production in accordance with specific mechanisms prescribed in Resolutions of the National Assembly;

d) Recovery of byproduct minerals, minerals recovered from project of dredging and widening of canals, bed of lakes of hydroelectricity infrastructures, lakes of irrigation infrastructures, aquaculture renovation.”.

d) Amendments to clause 6:

“6. Cases of renewal Mineral production licenses:

a) If the mineral production licensing fee has not been calculated, the reserve for calculating the mineral production licensing fee shall be determined by the total extracted mineral reserves and the mineral reserves for which the extraction is extended, in accordance with Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article;

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c) With regard to mineral production licenses for mineral water or natural thermal water, mineral reserves for calculating mineral production licensing fees (Q) shall be the extracted water output (m3/24 hours) specified in the renewed license multiplied by (x) the remaining validity period of the license. The extraction period shall be 365 days per year.”,

3. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 7:

a) Amendment to point b of clause 2:

“b) K_qd = 1 if prices for calculating resource royalty announced by the provincial People's Committee include the price of raw minerals and measurement unit (of dimension one) the same as the unit of the licensed mineral reserve unit, the price of metal ores corresponding to the licensed reserve of minerals that are metal ores.”.

b) Addition of clause 4:

“4. If prices for calculating resource royalty announced by the provincial People's Committee include multiple prices for a type of mineral, the price for calculating resource royalty to determine the price for calculating the mineral production licensing fee shall be choose in the following order of priority:

a) The price for calculating resource royalty issued separately for each specific mine, which is used to determine the mineral production licensing fee for that specific mine;

b) The price for calculating resource royalty which has measurement unit (of dimension one) and mineral reserve unit specified in Mineral production licenses;

b) The price for calculating resource royalty issued for raw minerals;

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dd) The price for calculating resource royalty issued for ore concentrates.”

4. Amendment to clause 2 of Article 8:

“2. Mineral production licensing fees shall be verified and approved at the same time when applications for issuance of mineral production license are processed.

If the price for calculating resource royalty is not available or it is not conformable with the type of minerals requiring production license, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or the provincial People's Committees shall apply the average price for extracted minerals as prescribed in the bracket of prices for calculating resources royalties announced by the Ministry of Finance to temporarily collect mineral production licensing fees. If there is new type of mineral discovered that is not specified in bracket of prices for calculating resources royalties of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Provincial People's Committees shall apply price for calculating resource royalty of minerals with similar physical and chemical properties to temporarily collect the mineral production licensing fees.

The price for calculating resource tax conformable with applicable regulations shall be used to determine the official price for calculating the mineral production licensing fee, replacing the previously collected price.”.

5. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 9:

a) Amendment to point a of clause 2:

The amount payable in the first payment shall be calculated as follows:

For cases of new issuance of Mineral production licenses:

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For cases of renewal Mineral production licenses:

T_lđ = T: (X : 2)”

b) Addition of clause 2a after clause 2:

“2a. Case of several payments specified in clause 2 of this Article, If there is a change in the price for calculating resource royalty or the level of collection of mineral production licensing fees, the amount payable in the annual payment after the second payment shall be re-determined by the Department of Mineral Resources of Viet Nam (for licenses issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (licenses issued by the provincial People's Committee) as follows:

T_n = T_hn x (G_n : G) x (R_n : R)

Where:

T_n – amount payable in the n^th payment (unit: VND);

G_n – Price for calculating mineral production licensing fee in effect at the time of January 1 of the year of the n^th fee collection notice (unit: VND/reserve unit);

G - Price for calculating mineral production licensing fee at the time of approval (unit: VND/reserve unit);

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R_n – Rate of mineral production licensing fee in effect at the time of January 1 of the year of the nth fee collection notice (unit: %);

R – Rate of mineral production licensing fees at the time of approval (unit: %).”.

c) Amendments to clause 3:

“3. Time limits for paying mineral production licensing fee in the following cases:

a) Time limits for first payment of mineral production licensing fee or time limits adjusted in accordance with document of the competent state regulatory authority: No later than 90 days from the date of issuance of the notice by the tax authority.

b) From the second payment onwards, organizations and individuals can choose to pay the mineral production licensing fee once or twice a year. If once a year, the time limit is no later than May 31. If the competent agency issues a notice of payment after March 1, the time limit is no later than 90 days from the date of issuance of the notice.

If twice a year: first payment (50%) must be made by May 31; second payment (the remaining) must be made by October 31.

c) If mineral production must be suspended at the request of the competent state regulatory authority not due to mineral-related administrative violations and certified by the relevant provincial People’s Committee, the time limit for mineral production licensing fee in the period (if any) shall be extended for a period equal to the suspension period but not exceeding the remaining licensed production period. 

When the organization or individual is permitted to resume production, they must report to the competent authority issuing mineral production licenses. Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the report, the Department of Mineral Resources of Viet Nam (for licenses issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (licenses issued by the provincial People's Committee)shall determine the mineral exploitation right fee arising during the suspension period. Organizations and individuals must pay the mineral production licensing fee within 90 days from the date of receipt of the notice of payment from the tax authority and are not subject to late payment interests during the suspension period.

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d) Amendments to clause 4:

In case minerals are extracted without exploration in an area where a construction project is implemented or byproduct minerals are excavated in the course of implementing channel dredging projects or saline sand is excavated from projects on dredging of inland waterway routes or port waters, bed of lakes of hydroelectricity infrastructures, lakes of irrigation infrastructures, aquaculture renovation, the mineral production licensing fee shall be annually paid according to the annual resource royalty declaration in lump sum by May 31 of the following year.

6. Amendment to Article 10:

Article 10. Approval of adjustment, additional payment, re-approval, and refund of mineral production licensing fees

1. Mineral exploitation license fees are reviewed, approved upon adjustment, supplemented, and re-approved when there are changes in the reserves permitted for mining design stated in the mineral production license:

a) Decrease in reserves for calculating mineral production licensing fee due to surrender of mineral production license or relinquishment of a part of mining area or license revocation under decision of competent  state regulatory authority specified in point d of Article 58 of the Law on Minerals;

b) There is an increase in reserves to be included in the mining design because an additional reserve has been approved after exploration but is not yet specified in the mining design;

c) There is an increase in reserves for calculating mineral production licensing fee because the mineral reserve actually produced within the licensed mining area is greater than the mineral reserve for which mineral production licensing fee has been determined. The entity granted the production right shall assume responsibility for the quantity of minerals actually produced and submit report thereof to the competent state regulatory authority issuing the mineral production license in accordance with Article 82 of the Law on minerals.

2. When approving adjustment, re-approving the mineral production licensing fee in accordance with point a of clause 1 of this Article, if the paid fee is greater than total fee upon adjustment, the excess amount of mineral production licensing fees shall be refunded in accordance with laws in tax administration, except for cases specified in clause 3 of this Article.

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a) In case of surrender of mineral production license (for entire mineral reserve) or relinquishment of a part of mining area (for a part of mineral reserve), the amount paid in the first payment shall not be refunded, except for the case specified in Clause 4 of this Article;

b) In case the mineral production licensing fee for the mineral reserve specified in the mining design has been fully paid but the mineral production is not yet complete or the mineral reserve specified in the license is not yet reached when the licensed production period expires and conditions for license extension are not met, the paid charge shall not be refunded;

c) The entity that has its mineral production license revoked according to Point a, Point b or Point c of Clause 1 of Article 58 of the Law on minerals shall not be refunded the mineral production licensing fee paid up to the time of license revocation.

4. If the site cannot be cleared for mineral production, the refunded amount shall be the amount corresponding to the extracted reserve due to such reason.

5. If organizations or individuals granted the Production license returns all or part of the area permitted for production, upon receiving the application, the competent state regulatory authority issuing mineral production license shall:

a) Send a document to the relevant state regulatory authorities to inspect the completion of payment of mineral production licensing fee up to the time of receiving the application;

b) After having the inspection results specified in Point a of this Clause, send a document to the local Departments of Taxation and the organization or individual to notify the suspension of the collection of the mineral production licensing fee payable for the following periods until there is any further decision regarding closing the mine or adjusting the mineral production licensing fee.”.

7. Amendment to clause 1 of Article 11:

“1. The deferral of payment of mineral production licensing fee may be considered in case there are difficulties arising in the course of leased land clearance and in other cases as prescribed in the Law on tax administration.”.

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“4. Mineral production licensing fee included in the deductible expenses when determining income subject to corporate income tax by dividing total fee payable divided by number of licensed extraction years.   Conditions for deductible expenses shall comply with the Law on corporate income tax, including deposit slip to the state budget of mineral production licensing fee.

For cases of multiple payments of mineral production licensing fees, if the amount paid in the first payment is lower than the total fee payable divided by the number of licensed production years, in the year where the divided fee payable up to such year is fully paid, the enterprise may choose to increase the deductible expenses for the tax period to be deducted from the first payment or from the tax period for which the fee is fully paid for the difference between the annual divided fee payable and the amount paid in the first payment.

For cases of adjustment to the total mineral production licensing fee payable, the divided mineral production licensing fee for calculating deductible expenses in accordance with regulations in this clause for each year from the year the competent state agency issues the adjustment decision shall be determined by total mineral production licensing fee that the enterprise has not included in deductible expenses divided by number of remaining licensed extraction years from the issuance year of adjustment decision.

For enterprises failing to pay the mineral production licensing fee within the time limit of previous years, enterprises shall transfer such fees, which are included for calculating deductible expenses for the corporate income tax period, to the state budget.

Regarding licenses issued before the effective date of this Decree, the divided mineral production licensing fee for calculating deductible expenses in accordance with this clause by each year from the effective date of this Decree shall be determined by dividing the total fee that is not included for calculating payable deductible expenses, divided by the number of licensed extraction years. The mineral production licensing fee that has been included for calculating deductible expenses before the effective date of this Decree shall not be adjusted.".

9. Amendments to some clauses of Article 13:

a) Amendment to point a of clause 3:

“a) Send notices of payment of mineral production licensing fee to relevant payers within 10 days from the receipt of the document on approval of such fee or the document specifying the annual amount payable in accordance with point b of clause 1 and point b of clause 2 of this Article; manage, urge the collection, transfer, and handling of late payments, impose administrative penalties for violations related to the collection of mineral production licensing fees in accordance with the Law on Tax Administration;".

b) Amendments to clause 4:

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10. Amendments to some clause of Article 14:

a) Amendments to clause 2:

"2. Organizations or individuals that want to decrease the number of payments and increase the amount payable of each payment shall prepare and submit an application using Form 03 in Appendix III attached hereto to the competent state regulatory authority issuing mineral production licenses for review and decision on adjusting the number of payments and the amount payable of each payment."

b) Amendments to clause 3:

“3. If the payer fails to pay mineral production licensing fee right into state budget within the time limit prescribed in Point a and Point b  of Clause 3, Clause 4 of Article 10 hereof, in addition to the payable fee stated in the notice, that payer must also pay late payment interests, fines in accordance with law regulations on tax administration.”.

11. Additional of clause 4 to Article 15:

“4. If mineral production must be suspended before the effective date of this Decree at the request of the competent state regulatory authority not due to administrative violations and certified by the relevant People’s Committee of province where the mineral production site is located, regulations of Point c of Clause 3 of Article 9 hereof from the time of mineral production suspension.”.

12. Clause 5 of Article 6; Clause 4 of Article 8; Clause 3 of Article 15.are annulled.

13. The phrase "General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam" is replaced with the phrase "Department of Minerals of Vietnam" at Clause 1 and Clause 3 of Article 8; Clause 6 of Article 9; Clause 1, Point c of Clause 3 of Article 13.

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1. Amendments to some clauses of Article 9:

a) Amendments to clause 1:

1. Permissible daily mining time: from 5am to 7pm; regulations on mining time periods during a year.

b) Addition of clause 4:

“4. Based on geographic location, climate conditions, weather, and hydrology, the provincial People's Committee shall decide on the specific mining period for each license and registration application, but not exceeding the time limit specified in clause 1 of this Article.

2. Amendment to point a clause 1 of Article 10:

a) The storage area must be within the inland waterway port, inland wharf in accordance with regulations of the Law on inland waterway Traffic;

3. Amendment to point b clause 1 of Article 31:

“b) Conduct auctions of river bed sand and gravel mining right so as to license river bed sand and gravel exploration and mining within its province in accordance with regulations of law on minerals;”

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Amendment to clause 3 of Article 8:

“3. An assessment of impact to mineral resources, reserves and quality; solution for protection of minerals in a national mineral reserve shall comply with Form specified in Appendix attached hereto.”.

Article 5. Transition clauses

1. The decision on approval of mineral production licensing fee issued before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to be in effect. In case of adjustment of the Mineral production license, the decision approving the adjustment of the mineral production licensing fee shall apply in accordance with Article 3 hereof.

2. For applications for issuance of mineral production license received by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree but by the effective date of this Decree the mineral production licensing fee in such case has not been approved, the calculation and approval of the mineral production licensing fee shall be carried out in accordance with Article 3 hereof.

3. For cases where the mineral production license is granted before the effective date of this Decree but there is no decision approving the results of determining the reimbursable costs, the calculation and approval of the reimbursable costs shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 2, Clause 3, and Clause 18 of Article 1 hereof.

Organizations and individuals shall remit reimbursable costs to the state through a one-time payment into an account opened at the State Treasury of the unit determining the reimbursable costs no later than 60 working days from the date of approval decision.

4. If a property auction organization has been selected or a council for a mineral production right auction has been established for organizing an auction but has not been publicly posted or announced by the effective date of this Decree, the procedures for publicly posting, announcing, and organizing an auction shall be conducted in accordance with the Law on Property Auction and Article 2 hereof.

If the competent state authority has not granted the mineral production license to the winning bidder before the effective date of this Decree, the calculation and payment of the winning bid shall be carried out in accordance with the Article 2 hereof.

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6. Unexpired Mineral production licenses, confirmation of registration of mining areas, capacity, quantity, methods, equipment and plan related to mineral extraction for river bed sand and gravel issued before the effective date of this Decree may continue to be used in accordance with regulations hereof without having to re-perform the procedures for adjustment thereof.

Article 7. Implementation clauses

1. This Decree comes into force from March 1, 2025.

2. Article 3 and Article 5 of Decree No. 22/2023/ND-CP dated May 12, 2023 of the Government providing amendments to decrees on business operations in environment and natural resources sector are annulled.

3. Clause 3 of Article 9 of Decree 23/2020/ND-CP dated December 24, 2020 of the Government on management of river bed sand and gravel and protection of river beds, banks and terraces is annulled.

4. Ministers, heads of ministerial agencies, heads of government agencies, and Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally affiliated cities are responsible for providing guidance and implementing this Decree.

ON THE BEHALF OF GOVERNMENT
PP. PRIME MINISTER
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER




Tran Hong Ha

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